Wednesday, June 16,2010
I was late getting to the parlor for our meeting. We had worked steadily on Bill’s living room, hanging the curtains and waxing the floors and the ornate fireplace mantel. The carved mantel clock, I discovered, did not work but after a few calls, I found someone who would repair the clock and even repair the chimes so it would go off every hour on the hour. The next room we were tackling was the grand foyer. We were planning to paint it a warm cream color and clean his windows flanking each side of the double doors and hang up lace panels. Barrister and my dad had offered to take the double doors down and strip them of the white paint and stain and varnish them.
We worked steadily through the day, taking off as much of the wall paper as we could in the foyer and up the stairs and on the second floor gallery. We patched the walls and primed them and painted them, a real job because we had to use a scaffold to get to the ceiling which we also painted cream. The base boards and the stairs we painted a bright white.
Finally I got into the shower and showered up. Renee, Vi, Bella, and Westexan were already gone to the meeting. I stood in the shower and cried. I didn’t like to think of Bill where he was going to end up, perhaps having that defeated feeling in his heart and then to see his betrayal and torture. Finally I composed myself and finished my shower and got ready for the meeting. I was stopping by Merlotte’s to pick up a batch of chicken strips to bring to the parlor. The sun was down before we left and Jessica begged a ride from us to the meeting.
We walked into Merlotte’s. Sam was behind the bar and he smiled a genuine smile at me. Sookie was working hard, her eyes drawn down. She saw me.
“Have you seen or heard from Bill?” she asked.
“No, Sookie, I haven’t,” I said. “Have you?”
“No,” she said. “I have spoken to Eric, have you?”
“I have,” I said.
“Will you call me if you hear from Bill?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said. She wrote her number on a napkin and I put it in my purse. Tara came to the bar from the kitchen through window where I could see Lafayette and Terry and Big John working in the kitchen. Arlene looked unhappy. Tara did too. She had our to go order ready.
I paid for the food and we went out. Jessica had stayed in the car.
“Damn, “ I said.
“What sweetheart?” asked Barrister.
“I should have gotten Jessica a Tru:Blood,” I said.
“I’m alright,” she said from the car. “I’ll have one at the meeting.”
“Okay, “ I said. I felt sorry for Jessica. I worried about what was going to happen to her. Bill was not going to be here for her either.
“I really like the house,” said Jessica.
“Well, we want you to pick out a room so we can fix it to be light tight,” I said. “That way you won’t have to sleep in that cubby hole and you have your own space.”
“Are you going to help them Barrister?” she asked. Barrister, my human lover, was Jessica’s lover as well. God Speed was his spirit brother in this arrangement along with Sal. Scarlett was their spirit sister in this arrangement as well. Which was fine for all involved.
“Of course, and God Speed is too, when the time comes,” he said.
“Do I get to pick my own colors and everything?” she asked, excited like any teenager, but you had to remind yourself she was no longer that, but a lost Vampire. Without her maker, Jessica was very vulnerable. And dangerous.
“Absolutely,” I said.
“Awesome!!” she said. “I wonder why Bill never fixed up his house and made himself a light tight place?”
“Well, sweetie, Bill was turned during a time when Vampires didn’t live out in the open,” I said, turning to look at her. “He really doesn’t know what he is doing as a mainstreaming Vampire and he really doesn’t know how to be your maker. He means well, but he is clueless.”
“Boy is he ever,” said Jessica. “But you guys are nice.”
“Well, we like you Jessica,” I said.
“Do you really?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said.
The parlor was crowded when we came in. Butter and Fairy and Eric were talking to Chris and he was having a Tru:Blood. Renee and Vi and West and Scarlett was there talking to Pam. Scarlett got up to warm a Tru:Blood for Jess. Aolani and Linzy and Lina and Body Guard was there talking to Alcide. I noticed Eric casting glowing eyes at the were but he turned back to say something to Fairy. I walked into the kitchen area and Barrister went over to chat with God Speed and his wife Jen. I unpacked the containers of chicken strips and a big order of deep fried onion rings and deep fried pickles. I set them out with the other snacks and goodies brought by the members of the Council. Dude came in with a case of Bud Light.
“Ooooo give me one of those,” I said to Dude. He sat the case down and opened it and gave me a long neck bottle. I twisted off the cap and took deep swallows of the cold beer. “I needed that.”
“So how is the work going on Bill’s house?” he asked.
“Not bad,” I said. “It is hard work, but it is coming along nicely. You should come see.”
“You might put me to work,” he said.
“I might at that,” I said. Eric loomed over me like a big vulture and I ignored him while I got myself something to eat. He then turned and left me be to sit down next to Butter and rub her tummy, which was enormous with baby. He leaned over and kissed her gently.
Raki and Minnnie and Sweet and Wild came in and made themselves a plate and sat down. We were all excited because this was the first meeting of the new adventure. And was there a lot to talk about.
I sat down on a stool and sat my plate on the coffee table. I chatted with whoever came to sit near me. After we finished, we settled down for our meeting. Alcide was paying close attention. This was his first meeting of True Blood Anonymous.
“So, what was your reaction to Sunday’s adventures?” asked Pam.
“Well, “ began Westexan. “I was surprised with Sookie, really. She picked up right away that something had happened to Bill and he didn’t just stomp off and be mad because she was not sure she was going to marry him.”
“I was surprised too, to tell you the truth,” said God Speed. “Really, I sort expected her to have a trade mark Sookie snit.”
“But she went right to work on what happened to Bill,” said Westexan. “Notice she even called Isabelle?”
“Yes,” said Scarlett. “She did, she is trying to get any foot hold in the Vampire world she can to help her. But is that such a wise thing to do? She has just let a Vampire in another area know there is a Vampire missing under Eric’s watch.”
“She has,” I said. “So, it was good to hear that though you intended to kidnap Bill yourself, Eric, you were not successful. Frankly, I wish you had. You may have kept him subdued, but you would not have let him be harmed by drainers, regardless of their species.”
“No, I would not have harmed Bill, merely kept him out of the way,” he said.
“Even from us?” asked Renee. Eric nodded.
“Even from you,” he said. “It is nothing personal, you understand, it would have been something I simply would have done for his own, and my own protection.” That Eric admitted that was a big deal.
“So what happens now?” asked Dude. “How deep in the shit are you with the Queen?”
“Up to my nose,” he said.
“Then keep your mouth shut,” said Body Guard.
“Amen,” said Pam.
“Did I ask either of you for your counsel?” he said cooly.
“No, Eric,” said Pam. Body Guard shrugged, not easily flustered
“But you are correct, I need to focus on the road ahead,” he said.
“Body Guard, Alcide, what do you know about these weres?” asked Barrister.
“Well, Aslinn may be on to something in her mythology thread about the implications of some sort of neo-Nazi affiliation,” said Alcide. “See, we feel even more like a minority than the Vampires do because we are still closeted so to speak.” Body Guard was nodding.
“It really has little to do with human Nazism,” said Body Guard. “But it is about species rather than race or religion. They have simply embraced some of the basic teachings. Supreme race teachings.”
“Well, Adolf means ‘Father Wolf’,” said Vi. “And Hitler was into the occult. He even planned to reinvent his vision of the Norse religion.”
“Yes, and Aslinn wrote about the Werewolves, the paramilitary group that did a lot on the local level so to speak,” said Minnie.
“It makes me wonder…since Vampires exist, and werewolves exist, if Hitler wasn’t a were,” I said.
“We have heard rumors that he was,” said Body Guard. “But there is little proof of that.”
“So, why would Weres team up with Vampires?” asked Linzy. “Vampires have no love for Weres and Weres have no love for Vampires for that matter.”
“Well, I think it is likely, the Weres we are meeting now are hoping to have a little power behind them with the Vampires being in the open. Eventually though, they are gonna fight,” said Alcide.
“What side will you be on?” asked Lina.
“Neither. I am doing this because I owe Eric something,” said Alcide. “But I have no stand on a struggle, and I could care less what happens to those weres in Mississippi.”
“So they are using V too,” said Scarlett. “That was terrible to watch them do that to Bill.”
“It was almost like rape,” I said, shivering. Renee nodded, squeezing a pillow to her chest.
“Jessica,” said Eric. “You should see Pam about your little predicament.”
“I planned on it,” she said. “It’s just that….there are so many things I don’t know about being a Vampire, since Bill wants me to be ‘mainstream’.” Jessica said the word as if she were describing a terrible intestinal condition.
“What about Jason?” said Butter.
“Kel, men dum.” said Eric in Swedish. We knew what he said and snickered. He smiled his lopsided grin.
“Sort of poetic justice, don’t you think?” I said. “In the first adventure, Jason is the hotsy totsy sex machine and has Maudette hanging from the rafters of her apartment, then last adventure, he is a boy trying to get a handle on his piety rather than his peter, and then this adventure, he is impotent.”
Eric smiled, laughing softly at the references to Jason’s sex abilities. Now it was the Big Viking who was the star of the sexcapades. I saw the glow of lust on his wives faces and I laughed, the first time I had laughed with the Sheriff in a while. In a sort of reverse mirroring, Eric began as a peripheral character, grew into a character of emotional upheaval and was just now revealing an earthier facet to his being. Such is life. God Speed rolled his eyes. I shook my head slightly.
“Do you think Tara will pull out of this?” asked Sal.
“I honestly don’t know,” said Jen. “But if her mother thinks making the moves on the Rev will help her daughter, she is sorely mistaken. It will just make Tara see her mother as a hypocrite she has been accusing her mother of being all along.”
“That is so true, and poor Lafayette, he has troubles galore, what with Pam and Tara to deal with,” said Sweet and Wild.
“Do you think he will get all that blood sold?” asked Dude.
“I have no idea,” said Pam. “But he better.”
“You know, I would not be surprised if he calls his contact in Dallas…the mysterious Pussy Lover,” I said.
“I had not thought of that, Aslinn,” said Eric. “Did you ever get a response to emails with that address?”
“No, I never did,” I said. I had tried since last season to reach out to pussylover9@shemail.com. I had tried all the variants of the name, even some creative spellings, but no luck, the response was the same, that the message could not be delivered.
“That may be something to consider,” said Eric.
“Eric, your plaything, Yvetta, can you really trust her?” asked Butter.
“I do not trust her,” said Eric. “She is not your equal dearest, therefore, I do not trust her.”
“Keep an eye on her though,” said Dude. “We were not above sending in our Crimson Siren, she would not be above sending in her own Mata Hari to hurt you.”
“I will take that under advisement,” he said darkly.
“And Sam, poor Sam,” said Linzy. “He is discovering that his family is quite a rowdy bunch.”
“Whisky Tangos, you mean,” said Barrister. “Yeah, they are trouble, and Sam should proceed with extreme prejudice.”
“I like that,” said Pam. “Extreme prejudice.”
“When the time comes, Eric, will you help Tara in her predicament?” asked Minnie.
“If I can help her, and by doing so, help Sookie, I will be happy to help her,” said Eric, smiling his lopsided smile.
“I hope so, and help Bill,” said Violet.
“Don’t worry too much about Bill Compton,” he said. “There will be troubles enough for all of us when the time comes.”
“Can we help in some way?” asked Renee.
“No, you stay out of this, there is nothing you can do to help anyone in this situation,” said Pam. “Least of all Bill. Let Eric and Sookie handle it.”
“Do not under estimate Bill’s cleverness, or his will to survive, it is very strong. That is one thing Lorena passed on to her child. He will do whatever he must to get out of his situation,” said Eric. “So don’t do anything to jeopardize yourselves, or you might get yourselves killed.”
“Well, excellent meeting, well done,” said Pam.
I was late getting to the parlor for our meeting. We had worked steadily on Bill’s living room, hanging the curtains and waxing the floors and the ornate fireplace mantel. The carved mantel clock, I discovered, did not work but after a few calls, I found someone who would repair the clock and even repair the chimes so it would go off every hour on the hour. The next room we were tackling was the grand foyer. We were planning to paint it a warm cream color and clean his windows flanking each side of the double doors and hang up lace panels. Barrister and my dad had offered to take the double doors down and strip them of the white paint and stain and varnish them.
We worked steadily through the day, taking off as much of the wall paper as we could in the foyer and up the stairs and on the second floor gallery. We patched the walls and primed them and painted them, a real job because we had to use a scaffold to get to the ceiling which we also painted cream. The base boards and the stairs we painted a bright white.
Finally I got into the shower and showered up. Renee, Vi, Bella, and Westexan were already gone to the meeting. I stood in the shower and cried. I didn’t like to think of Bill where he was going to end up, perhaps having that defeated feeling in his heart and then to see his betrayal and torture. Finally I composed myself and finished my shower and got ready for the meeting. I was stopping by Merlotte’s to pick up a batch of chicken strips to bring to the parlor. The sun was down before we left and Jessica begged a ride from us to the meeting.
We walked into Merlotte’s. Sam was behind the bar and he smiled a genuine smile at me. Sookie was working hard, her eyes drawn down. She saw me.
“Have you seen or heard from Bill?” she asked.
“No, Sookie, I haven’t,” I said. “Have you?”
“No,” she said. “I have spoken to Eric, have you?”
“I have,” I said.
“Will you call me if you hear from Bill?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said. She wrote her number on a napkin and I put it in my purse. Tara came to the bar from the kitchen through window where I could see Lafayette and Terry and Big John working in the kitchen. Arlene looked unhappy. Tara did too. She had our to go order ready.
I paid for the food and we went out. Jessica had stayed in the car.
“Damn, “ I said.
“What sweetheart?” asked Barrister.
“I should have gotten Jessica a Tru:Blood,” I said.
“I’m alright,” she said from the car. “I’ll have one at the meeting.”
“Okay, “ I said. I felt sorry for Jessica. I worried about what was going to happen to her. Bill was not going to be here for her either.
“I really like the house,” said Jessica.
“Well, we want you to pick out a room so we can fix it to be light tight,” I said. “That way you won’t have to sleep in that cubby hole and you have your own space.”
“Are you going to help them Barrister?” she asked. Barrister, my human lover, was Jessica’s lover as well. God Speed was his spirit brother in this arrangement along with Sal. Scarlett was their spirit sister in this arrangement as well. Which was fine for all involved.
“Of course, and God Speed is too, when the time comes,” he said.
“Do I get to pick my own colors and everything?” she asked, excited like any teenager, but you had to remind yourself she was no longer that, but a lost Vampire. Without her maker, Jessica was very vulnerable. And dangerous.
“Absolutely,” I said.
“Awesome!!” she said. “I wonder why Bill never fixed up his house and made himself a light tight place?”
“Well, sweetie, Bill was turned during a time when Vampires didn’t live out in the open,” I said, turning to look at her. “He really doesn’t know what he is doing as a mainstreaming Vampire and he really doesn’t know how to be your maker. He means well, but he is clueless.”
“Boy is he ever,” said Jessica. “But you guys are nice.”
“Well, we like you Jessica,” I said.
“Do you really?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said.
The parlor was crowded when we came in. Butter and Fairy and Eric were talking to Chris and he was having a Tru:Blood. Renee and Vi and West and Scarlett was there talking to Pam. Scarlett got up to warm a Tru:Blood for Jess. Aolani and Linzy and Lina and Body Guard was there talking to Alcide. I noticed Eric casting glowing eyes at the were but he turned back to say something to Fairy. I walked into the kitchen area and Barrister went over to chat with God Speed and his wife Jen. I unpacked the containers of chicken strips and a big order of deep fried onion rings and deep fried pickles. I set them out with the other snacks and goodies brought by the members of the Council. Dude came in with a case of Bud Light.
“Ooooo give me one of those,” I said to Dude. He sat the case down and opened it and gave me a long neck bottle. I twisted off the cap and took deep swallows of the cold beer. “I needed that.”
“So how is the work going on Bill’s house?” he asked.
“Not bad,” I said. “It is hard work, but it is coming along nicely. You should come see.”
“You might put me to work,” he said.
“I might at that,” I said. Eric loomed over me like a big vulture and I ignored him while I got myself something to eat. He then turned and left me be to sit down next to Butter and rub her tummy, which was enormous with baby. He leaned over and kissed her gently.
Raki and Minnnie and Sweet and Wild came in and made themselves a plate and sat down. We were all excited because this was the first meeting of the new adventure. And was there a lot to talk about.
I sat down on a stool and sat my plate on the coffee table. I chatted with whoever came to sit near me. After we finished, we settled down for our meeting. Alcide was paying close attention. This was his first meeting of True Blood Anonymous.
“So, what was your reaction to Sunday’s adventures?” asked Pam.
“Well, “ began Westexan. “I was surprised with Sookie, really. She picked up right away that something had happened to Bill and he didn’t just stomp off and be mad because she was not sure she was going to marry him.”
“I was surprised too, to tell you the truth,” said God Speed. “Really, I sort expected her to have a trade mark Sookie snit.”
“But she went right to work on what happened to Bill,” said Westexan. “Notice she even called Isabelle?”
“Yes,” said Scarlett. “She did, she is trying to get any foot hold in the Vampire world she can to help her. But is that such a wise thing to do? She has just let a Vampire in another area know there is a Vampire missing under Eric’s watch.”
“She has,” I said. “So, it was good to hear that though you intended to kidnap Bill yourself, Eric, you were not successful. Frankly, I wish you had. You may have kept him subdued, but you would not have let him be harmed by drainers, regardless of their species.”
“No, I would not have harmed Bill, merely kept him out of the way,” he said.
“Even from us?” asked Renee. Eric nodded.
“Even from you,” he said. “It is nothing personal, you understand, it would have been something I simply would have done for his own, and my own protection.” That Eric admitted that was a big deal.
“So what happens now?” asked Dude. “How deep in the shit are you with the Queen?”
“Up to my nose,” he said.
“Then keep your mouth shut,” said Body Guard.
“Amen,” said Pam.
“Did I ask either of you for your counsel?” he said cooly.
“No, Eric,” said Pam. Body Guard shrugged, not easily flustered
“But you are correct, I need to focus on the road ahead,” he said.
“Body Guard, Alcide, what do you know about these weres?” asked Barrister.
“Well, Aslinn may be on to something in her mythology thread about the implications of some sort of neo-Nazi affiliation,” said Alcide. “See, we feel even more like a minority than the Vampires do because we are still closeted so to speak.” Body Guard was nodding.
“It really has little to do with human Nazism,” said Body Guard. “But it is about species rather than race or religion. They have simply embraced some of the basic teachings. Supreme race teachings.”
“Well, Adolf means ‘Father Wolf’,” said Vi. “And Hitler was into the occult. He even planned to reinvent his vision of the Norse religion.”
“Yes, and Aslinn wrote about the Werewolves, the paramilitary group that did a lot on the local level so to speak,” said Minnie.
“It makes me wonder…since Vampires exist, and werewolves exist, if Hitler wasn’t a were,” I said.
“We have heard rumors that he was,” said Body Guard. “But there is little proof of that.”
“So, why would Weres team up with Vampires?” asked Linzy. “Vampires have no love for Weres and Weres have no love for Vampires for that matter.”
“Well, I think it is likely, the Weres we are meeting now are hoping to have a little power behind them with the Vampires being in the open. Eventually though, they are gonna fight,” said Alcide.
“What side will you be on?” asked Lina.
“Neither. I am doing this because I owe Eric something,” said Alcide. “But I have no stand on a struggle, and I could care less what happens to those weres in Mississippi.”
“So they are using V too,” said Scarlett. “That was terrible to watch them do that to Bill.”
“It was almost like rape,” I said, shivering. Renee nodded, squeezing a pillow to her chest.
“Jessica,” said Eric. “You should see Pam about your little predicament.”
“I planned on it,” she said. “It’s just that….there are so many things I don’t know about being a Vampire, since Bill wants me to be ‘mainstream’.” Jessica said the word as if she were describing a terrible intestinal condition.
“What about Jason?” said Butter.
“Kel, men dum.” said Eric in Swedish. We knew what he said and snickered. He smiled his lopsided grin.
“Sort of poetic justice, don’t you think?” I said. “In the first adventure, Jason is the hotsy totsy sex machine and has Maudette hanging from the rafters of her apartment, then last adventure, he is a boy trying to get a handle on his piety rather than his peter, and then this adventure, he is impotent.”
Eric smiled, laughing softly at the references to Jason’s sex abilities. Now it was the Big Viking who was the star of the sexcapades. I saw the glow of lust on his wives faces and I laughed, the first time I had laughed with the Sheriff in a while. In a sort of reverse mirroring, Eric began as a peripheral character, grew into a character of emotional upheaval and was just now revealing an earthier facet to his being. Such is life. God Speed rolled his eyes. I shook my head slightly.
“Do you think Tara will pull out of this?” asked Sal.
“I honestly don’t know,” said Jen. “But if her mother thinks making the moves on the Rev will help her daughter, she is sorely mistaken. It will just make Tara see her mother as a hypocrite she has been accusing her mother of being all along.”
“That is so true, and poor Lafayette, he has troubles galore, what with Pam and Tara to deal with,” said Sweet and Wild.
“Do you think he will get all that blood sold?” asked Dude.
“I have no idea,” said Pam. “But he better.”
“You know, I would not be surprised if he calls his contact in Dallas…the mysterious Pussy Lover,” I said.
“I had not thought of that, Aslinn,” said Eric. “Did you ever get a response to emails with that address?”
“No, I never did,” I said. I had tried since last season to reach out to pussylover9@shemail.com. I had tried all the variants of the name, even some creative spellings, but no luck, the response was the same, that the message could not be delivered.
“That may be something to consider,” said Eric.
“Eric, your plaything, Yvetta, can you really trust her?” asked Butter.
“I do not trust her,” said Eric. “She is not your equal dearest, therefore, I do not trust her.”
“Keep an eye on her though,” said Dude. “We were not above sending in our Crimson Siren, she would not be above sending in her own Mata Hari to hurt you.”
“I will take that under advisement,” he said darkly.
“And Sam, poor Sam,” said Linzy. “He is discovering that his family is quite a rowdy bunch.”
“Whisky Tangos, you mean,” said Barrister. “Yeah, they are trouble, and Sam should proceed with extreme prejudice.”
“I like that,” said Pam. “Extreme prejudice.”
“When the time comes, Eric, will you help Tara in her predicament?” asked Minnie.
“If I can help her, and by doing so, help Sookie, I will be happy to help her,” said Eric, smiling his lopsided smile.
“I hope so, and help Bill,” said Violet.
“Don’t worry too much about Bill Compton,” he said. “There will be troubles enough for all of us when the time comes.”
“Can we help in some way?” asked Renee.
“No, you stay out of this, there is nothing you can do to help anyone in this situation,” said Pam. “Least of all Bill. Let Eric and Sookie handle it.”
“Do not under estimate Bill’s cleverness, or his will to survive, it is very strong. That is one thing Lorena passed on to her child. He will do whatever he must to get out of his situation,” said Eric. “So don’t do anything to jeopardize yourselves, or you might get yourselves killed.”
“Well, excellent meeting, well done,” said Pam.
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